Energy plants in areas where water is scarce will be equipped with dry or air cooled heat exchangers. After leaving a generator of the energy plant the steam flows through a pipe towards a heat exchanger unit where the steam is cooled, for instance, by means of air generated by fans. The condensed water is led back to the generator through a return pipe. This especially occurs in arid environments where water is preserved. According to the state of the art two separate support structures are used therefore, one pipe carrying the steam and the return pipe carrying the condensed water back to the generator.
Due to high pressures and a high flowing speed of the steam, the steam produces noise while flowing through the pipe. Thus, the pipe carrying the steam radiates noises which pollute the environment. Especially inside city limits costly acoustic measures have to be taken to prevent a noise pollution caused by the pipe carrying the steam. A proven method of increasing the insulation of the steam pipe is to add mass to the pipe or to equip the steam pipe with a special insulating element, such as an insulating cover. However, such an insulation produces extra material costs which increase the overall costs of such a pipe system considerably.